At the (brief) full council meeting today which all councillors attend, I threw into the public domain some investigations I have made into the Niehbourhood Services dept at county hall. The department has over eighty senior managers in the top layers of the structure but I have learnt that the Labour run council is considering cutting  huge numbers of frontline staff, including two thirds of pest control officers and many neighbourhood wardens.

It is simply shocking how badly run the Council is right now. Hard working front line staff at risk in a top heavy organisation which is supposed to have been properly reorganised by now. I am sure that there will be more to report on this in the near future.

I also understand that the council is considering transferring all leisure centres into one or more trusts completely separated from the County Council control. This could have benefits as the service might get run better without Labour interference but given the past history of this council we will be keeping a beady eye on this too.

Following concerns raised by residents about anti-social behviour in Brasside I can confirm that there have been regular paterols by the police in the area recently including at least three times this week, with no problems found. When the next PACT meeting dates are announced I will post them here, but if you do have any problems with anti-social behaviour or other police issues please make sure that you call them whichever area you are in as they can’t fix a problem if they don’t know about it and need to here first hand from residents of problems to ensure that issues are properly logged. The switchboard number for the police is 03456060365. I am confident that the police are working very well in Durham at the moment which can be born out by the figures showing very low crime statistics and also by the excellent work they did over the Christmas period in for example the Arnison centre working with the council and local shops.

Further to the post below, this is  a link to the leaflet set to be delivered shortly to residents about the new system:

15-13809 Changes bin leaflet

This is a parliamentary report on Alternative bin Collections we were provided with:

Alternate Weekly Collections

Many of you will have noticed that changes are coming regarding refuse and recycling.

To simplify it: General Waste will be collected one week, recycling the following week, so fortnightly for each service. You will get a new wheelie bin for the recycling of paper, plastic and metal and keep the green box for glass. The green bag will be collected and recycled by the council. Garden waste service will stay the same.

The council has issued a list of questions and answers which I have posted on this site. Click on the Waste Collections link on the left of this page. or click here

My view: A few years ago when recycling was not as widespread I was against a move to fortnightly collections. Recycling has increased considerably reducing the amount of general waste. A lot of people have also started composting which helps to cut waste further. The new system has been shown to improve recycling rates in other areas of the country. This aspect has to be a good thing.

Since this scheme was announced last year and I delivered a leaflet mentioning it to nearly every household in the area I cover, I have received only two complaints about moving to this scheme and more than two supporting it. I know some people will have problems with this, but hopefully across the area most will find it to be easy to deal with. Where there are individual issues, please get in touch and I will see if I can help to address them. Most questions are answered by the council list in the link above. This change is going to save the council at least a million pounds a year when taken with all the other efficiencies from scarpping the district councils this should mean that other services are not cut back but as the Council is currently badly run by Labour, I don’t hold out much hope of that.

The council is offering subsidised compost bins and these can be ordered here including a buy one get one half price offer: http://www.getcomposting.com/

Things are going from strength to strength at the leisure centre since being saved from the Labour-run council’s attempt to close it. The new gym – funded from local Lib Dem councillors neighbourhood budgets is proving a real pull. There were nearly 30 members in the combat class this evening. Member numbers are strong and the outlook is good.

There is an offer at the moment. If you join this month you get 2 months free !! pop in for more information. the £10 a month offer for under 16’s is also doing well.

I am investigating some question marks about future ownership and running of leisure centres run by the council, but on the face of it it looks like Abbey is doing very well.

Held a meeting this evening in Brasside with council officers and residents from Rowan Drive to discuss a way forwards for the two collapsed walls, and wider issues in the village were also brought up. the council will be writing out to all residents who own one of the garages where the walls have collapsed, to assist in getting the work done, the meeting was well attended and I believe a successful outcome is round the corner on this issue.

Wider issues of the state of the estate and of the Prison club as well as of anti social behaviour were also brought up and we intend to deal with these in separate meetings. I have passed some concerns across to the police already and will post the latest Police and community meeting dates shortly.

I attended the latest meeting on community buildings this afternoon. As a reminder, the council is currently considering the future of over 100 community buildings in the county, and is looking at closing some, transfering the ownership of others.

The final report is still due to come in February according to todays meeting, but the final outcome for buildings is going to be a long process, with assistance expected for up to two years in helping local groups take over buildings.

I raised concerns about the capacity of the council to work through this process and also about current and ongoing repair issues on some community centres.

To recap:

Framwellgate Moor Community Centre – the committee is interested in taking over the building to manage it as a community asset but there are a lot of unanswered questions, I am on the committee and helping to work through this.

Fyndoune House Witton Gilbert – User numbers are very slow and at the moment it looks like the building will not continue as a community building, but again there are issues as there is a property above the centre. Perhaps there is still a chance for it to be kept open but it will require local residents to get involved. also see Woodbine below.

Beaurepaire Communal Hall, Bearpark – it is possible that the Twelve villages network may wish to take the building on, so things look OK at the moment but clearly things could change.

Bearpark community centre – There is a big grey area here as the building is actually not owned by the County Council but by an organisation called CISWO. I am trying to get more information about the future of the centre at the moment.

Woodbine Road Communal Hall, Pity Me – similar situation to Fyndoune – I understand that Durham City Homes may be showing an interest in the old communal halls as technically they could say they are owned by them – if the ownership of Durhams Council Houses transfers from the County Council to an arms length housing association of some type which seems probable, then what happens to these halls will clearly change.

So overall still a lot of confusion, but also for some buildings the potential for big improvement.

Happy New Year!

You probably thought you were too late to nominate your “councillor of the year”, but the closing date has been extended to January 13th so you’ve still got the opportunity.

I only know this because I received an email from County Hall entitled “Leader of the Year Award”, but it turns out there is a full complement:

Last year when the weather was, well slightly colder than today, I was being inundated with winter probelms.

Over the last few years I have campaigned for changes to the way in which the council allocates grit (salt) bins. Fortunately changes were made, and after a lot of pressure I have managed to get additional grit bins. In total there are now 8 more grit bins across our area than before.

The council has still refused bins at the following locations following my reissuing of requests from past failed attempts.

Durham Tce – Fail, no bin to be placed
Hartside View – Fail, no bin to be placed
Oatlands Way – Fail, no bin to be placed
Potterhouse Tce – Fail, no bin to be placed

I am particularly annoyed that the council has again refused a bin at Hartside View given the distance from the nearest one, the number of households on the estate and the fact that there are elderly residents bungalows in this area too. I have asked for a copy of the scoring for this one.

I am waiting for answers on a few other locations, but to avoid the risk of theft from them I will not list them at this point. If you strongly feel  that you are too far away from a grit bin, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

The Bin contract issue has made the national press today – see the Express for example.

What has made me so furious about this whole debacle is the lack of any transparency for councillors. When we are not given the chance to look at such issues by the Labour-run council it can hardly be our fault. When we ask for transparency and it is denied, that is Labour’s fault.

Having considered the Bin issue today, I think that to ensure that the council is seen to be democratic, and is democratic, where there are working groups involving councillors and officers in relation to contracts, non-Cabinet councillors should be given the opportunity to attend – including opposition councillors.

Until the full story about the Bins contract comes out, the only thing we can be sure of is that there has not been transparency or opportunity to comment for back-bench councillors.

It is possible that the lowest price bidder could not deliver the bins on time or to quality. Clearly if Council procurement delays caused this then there is an issue, but if not, it is quite possible that on this occasion officers followed the correct procedures.

The cost of delaying this contract and therefore delaying the move to fortnightly collections is in the region of £90,000 a month. I await with interest the truth on this one as it may not be quite as bad as is being made out.

The lack of democracy and the way Labour runs our council will of course continue to be a problem until they lose control.